Various stoppers for securing rockers, tables and like furniture equipped with casters on the bottoms thereof and thereby preventing movement from a desired position have been proposed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-192805 describes a stopper which is provided with a fixing support leg configured to be movable in the upward and downward directions between the ground and the bottom surface of a rocker or other item equipped with casters. The fixing support leg is brought into contact with the ground by pressing downwardly a fixing lever connected to the upper portion of the fixing support leg, thereby preventing the rocker or other item from moving.
Japanese Patent No. 3551811 describes a table having a ground-contact leg extending parallel to the ground and having casters mounted on both ends thereof. This table is prevented from moving by using a stopper accommodated inside the ground-contact leg. The stopper comprises: an inclining member capable of swinging around a rotation axis; and a ground-contact member attached to the tip of the inclining member and housed inside the ground-contact leg. The ground-contact member protrudes from the bottom surface of the ground-contact leg in response to a swinging movement of the inclining member and comes into contact with the ground, thereby preventing the table from moving. A manipulation member is provided swingably around a rotation axis above the inclining member. By pressing downward one end of the manipulation member that can be manipulated through an opening provided in the upper portion of the ground-contact leg, the inclining member is pressed downward and swung.
In the stopper for preventing movement described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-192805, the fixing lever and the fixing support leg are disposed one above the other in such a manner that the fixing lever can press downward the fixing support leg from above. Therefore, even when the fixing support leg is raised from the ground in order to allow a rocker or other item to move, the fixing support leg greatly protrudes from the bottom surface of the rocker or other item. If there is a projection or the like on the ground, the fixing support leg collides with such a projection, so that the rocker or other item cannot move smoothly.
In contrast, according to the stopper for preventing movement described in Japanese Patent No. 3551811, because the ground-contact member is housed inside the ground-contact leg, the table can move smoothly even if there is a projection or the like on the ground. However, because the manipulation member and the inclining member are disposed one above the other, a large space in the height direction is required.
The stopper for preventing movement according to the present invention is used for a bag equipped with casters. When the stopper of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-192805 is applied to a bag equipped with casters, the bag cannot move smoothly if there is a projection or the like on the ground, as described above. When the stopper of Japanese Patent No. 3551811 is applied to a bag equipped with casters, smooth movement is possible, but the stopper occupies a part of storage space in the bag, thus resulting in reduced storage space. Furthermore, when the stopper of Japanese Patent No. 3551811, which is configured in such a manner that the manipulation member can be manipulated through an opening provided in the upper portion of the ground-contact leg, is applied to a bag equipped with casters, it becomes necessary to manipulate the manipulation member from inside the bag, thus resulting in awkward manipulation.